Department for International Development

Middle East: Humanitarian Aid

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support humanitarian and human rights organisations that seek the ability to cross the border at Semalka between Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Syria in order to provide humanitarian aid.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: DFID currently funds a number of NGO partners who use the Semalka border crossing to provide humanitarian aid –health, food, livelihoods, and protection programmes – to people in parts of northern Syria. In general, access across the border is negotiated by agencies themselves.

Middle East: Humanitarian Aid

Baroness Northover: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to ensure that aid convoys are permitted and facilitated, and that humanitarian workers, journalists, and staff of relief and aid organisations are permitted entry into the region of Northern Syria and Rojava.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK has raised the issue with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Presidential Office, and strongly encouraged the free movement of humanitarian aid. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and to do all we can to ensure the provision of humanitarian access.

South Sudan: Armed Conflict

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Amnesty International's report Our Hearts Have Gone Dark, what steps they have taken to ensure that the victims of serious health issues, including mental health, as a result of the conflict in South Sudan receive urgent and adequate care.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK is the second largest aid donor in South Sudan and leads the £200 million, five year, multi-donor Health Pooled Fund which provides primary health services, including mental health care, to over 8million people in eight states across South Sudan. The fund also supports the South Sudan Healthcare system to deliver lifesaving care, ranging from Primary Health Units in more remote areas to State Hospitals. Patients with serious illnesses, including mental health cases, are referred to the nearest centre able to provide care for them.

South Sudan: Maternity Services

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of reports that one in seven women in South Sudan do not survive childbirth, what steps they are taking to ensure the improvement of conditions for pregnant women in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK leads the £200 million, five year, multi-donor Health Pooled Fund which provides comprehensive health care for pregnant women, including skilled care during labour and delivery, in eight of the ten states in South Sudan. Over the last three years this programme has enabled 493,316 pregnant women to receive anti-natal care services.

Ministry of Justice

Slavery

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance has been issued to the Courts and HM Prison Service to ensure that section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 is fully embedded into their training.

Lord Keen of Elie: The Home Office Circular on the Modern Slavery Act, along with a list of those to whom it was sent, is available on gov.uk.Human trafficking and modern slavery is covered within the core learning offer for prison and probation staff. Supplementary training on the subject of human trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable individuals is available to officers working with particularly vulnerable groups, such as foreign national or female offenders.

Slavery

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance has been provided to the Legal Aid Agency about section 47 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Lord Keen of Elie: The Lord Chancellor has the power to issue guidance or directions to the Director of Legal Aid casework under section 4 of LASPO. No such guidance or directions have been issued in respect of legal aid available as a result of section 47 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Pay

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, what impact the fixed one per cent pay increase has had on (1) retention, and (2) recruitment, in the (a) Army, (b) Navy, and (c) Royal Air Force.

Earl Howe: The Government greatly values the important work of the Armed Forces. The independent Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB) annually reviews Armed Forces' pay to ensure that it remains comparable and adequate to recruit, retain and motivate personnel. Having considered all the evidence presented to them during the last pay round, the AFPRB recommended that a one per cent increase in base pay across the board was appropriate; a recommendation which the Government accepted in full. In addition to the one per cent pay rise, Service personnel have benefited from the introduction of a new pay structure in April 2016. As well as retaining incremental pay scales, 'Pay 16' seeks to rebalance pay to better reward our most highly skilled personnel while addressing many of the concerns Service personnel had raised regarding the previous pay structure.Pay restraint was one of the many difficult decisions the Government had to make to put the UK's public finances back on track. However, the overall remuneration package remains competitive with a non-contributory pension scheme, subsidised accommodation and access to free medical and dental care.Research suggests that individuals joining the Armed Forces rate factors such as training, qualifications and promotion more highly than pay. For example, the 2014-15 Recruit Trainee Survey reports that the top four most important factors influencing recruits' decisions to join the Armed Forces were: challenge and adventure (93 per cent); keeping fit (93 per cent); gaining skills and qualifications and the appeal of the lifestyle. Similar findings are found in research regarding Service personnel's intentions to stay in the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey 2016 reports that the top five factors increasing Service personnel's intention to stay in the Armed Forces are: job security; dental and healthcare provision; pension; and mental health provision.The Services closely monitor recruitment and outflow. They have introduced a wide range of initiatives to increase recruitment numbers, which include targeted marketing, specific recruitment events, and improvements in the recruitment process. Instances of high outflow are mitigated through a variety of management actions which include extensions of Service, financial retention initiatives and inter-Service transfers. However, it should be recognised that some churn in strength, particularly in the lower ranks, is welcome and helps to refresh the Armed Forces.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Community Land Trusts

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are aware of any situations where trustees of community land trusts who are also members of parish councils have been prevented from carrying out their duties due to their interests being inaccurately declared as personal and prejudicial, and if so, what advice they plan to provide to all involved to resolve such situations.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are non-profit local organisations set up and run by local people to develop and manage homes and other community assets. They will be regulated according to the specific legal form they have decided is appropriate for their objectives. Consequently, the Department does not retain any central records on CLTs or their trustees.

Cabinet Office

UK Withdrawal from EU

Lord Hutton of Furness: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish an impact assessment before invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The process for leaving the EU and determining our future relationship will be a complex one, so we need to take time to think through our objectives and approach. We want to ensure the best possible outcome for Britain and the future UK-EU relationship. The Prime Minister has also said we would not trigger Article 50 until we have a UK approach and objectives.

Monarchy: EU Law

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 27 June (HL657), whether the "special status" enjoyed by the Sovereign is granted by EU law.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The European Court of Justice has held that EU law must be interpreted in the light of the relevant rules of international law and that, as such, under EU law Heads of State enjoy a special status (different from that of all other Union citizens).

Immigration

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the total immigration figures for each of the last five years from (1) the EU, and (2) outside the EU; and of which nationalities were immigrants from outside the EU in each of those years.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to HL1062
(PDF Document, 88.32 KB)

UK Withdrawal from EU

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the remarks by the Chief Executive of Credit Suisse that the UK's vote to leave the EU was the result of a "chronic lack of investment in education" and a need for "more solidarity".

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The British people have voted to leave the European Union and the Prime Minister has been clear that their will must be respected and delivered. We must now prepare for a negotiation to exit the EU.

UK Withdrawal from EU

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what instructions they have given to all ministers of the Crown and senior civil servants to work to facilitate an early and effective withdrawal from the EU.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: A new Department for Exiting the European Union has been established by the Prime Minister. The Department will lead the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union and establish the future relationship between the EU and the UK, working closely with the UK’s devolved administrations, Parliament, and a wide range of other interested parties on this approach. Officials and ministers will work closely with other departments, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Trade and others, to ensure the British public and business interests get the best possible deal when the UK leave the EU.

Overseas Students: Statistics

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress the Office of National Statistics has made in understanding non-EU student arrivals and departures in order to track the progress of student cohorts through the immigration system, as outlined in its January 2016 report Population Briefing, International Student Migration- what do the statistics tellus?

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response to HL1137 
(PDF Document, 118.73 KB)

Department of Health

Medical Treatments

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the result of the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, what plans they have for ensuring that the conditional approval of the European Medicines Agency for new treatments continues to have validity in the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The previous Prime Minister was clear that the negotiation for Britain's future relationship with Europe needed to begin under the new Prime Minister, and we now have got to look at all the detailed arrangements. The Department has launched a ministerial industry strategy group to prepare for the renegotiation on the new European Union/United Kingdom relationship, which includes looking at the relationship between the UK and the EU medicines regulatory framework.

Genetics: Screening

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 7 July (HL830), what prevents Genomic England from sharing all 8,408 genomes in the rare disease and all 1,671 cancer genomes programmes with the relevant commercial interpretation partners to accelerate the delivery of full reports back to patients.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The interpretation of a genome for clinical purposes requires high quality genomic and clinical data. Genomics England is expanding the access to genome data by clinical interpretation partners at an appropriate rate to avoid exceeding their capacity. This is to ensure there are interpretation services that are sustainable for the remainder of the project.

Genetics: Screening

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 7 July (HL829), why Genomic England cannot supply data without delay on the number of patients in the cancer programme who have subsequently died, in the light of the fact that the Office of National Statistics states that the information is available within two months of death from the cancer registry.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The arrangements for Genomics England to access patient data are different from the routine data supplied by the Office of National Statistics or other centralised patient data services. The wider patient dataset (including mortality data) will be imported and linked when the genome data is made available to researchers.